MIAMI – Baseball is a game played on a diamond that tends to move in circles.

Sometimes, those circles have a three-decade arc.

The Giants lost on a walk-off home run Wednesday night, when the Marlins went boom-boom-pow against Santiago Casilla. Justin Bour clocked a three-run shot that sent the Giants to a 6-5 loss at Marlins Park.

It was a coincidental ending. Because on this date 30 years ago, Giants manager Bruce Bochy had the biggest highlight of his playing career.

He hit a walk-off home run. Against Nolan Ryan.

It happened on July 1, 1985, at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium. Bochy entered on a double-switch for Kevin McReynolds in the ninth inning, with the Padres trailing 5-4 to Ryan and the Houston Astros.

Graig Nettles worked a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth. Carmelo Martinez doubled. Garry Templeton drew an intentional walk. Then Kurt Bevacqua, the guy that Tommy Lasorda once said couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat, lofted a sacrifice fly that tied the game.

The Padres had the winning run on third base, one out and Tim Flannery at the plate. He popped up.

“Oh, Flan,” said Bochy, smiling as he listened to a play-by-play reenactment.

Tony Gwynn grounded out and the game went to extra innings. Goose Gossage threw a zero in the top of the 10th. The Padres made two quick outs in the bottom of the 10th.

“I remember the home run, obviously, it being a walk-off, and doing the postgame show, and when I walked into the clubhouse, they had red carpet going to my locker with my helmet and a six-pack of Coors Lights in there with ice.”

The whole six-pack. With ice. Such are the benefits when you have a famously large size 8 dome.

“I was kidding and I said I had to get Nolan when he was beginning to fade a little bit,” Bochy said. “So, you know, he was starting to lose it in the 10th inning. He was probably down to about 97 mph. ”

Bochy called it the highlight of his career, along with getting a hit in the 1984 World Series. It certainly ranked as the most memorable of his 26 career home runs.

And in fact, it wasn’t his only walk-off shot. He actually hit two more the following season, both times as a pinch hitter. He took Dodgers lefty Ed Vande Berg deep to end a game in April, 1986. A few months later, on July 4, he loaded the fireworks and hit a pinch home run against Cubs left-hander Ray Fontenot that won the game.

“Well you know, my role changed and I was pinch hitting a lot in the eighth and ninth,” Bochy said. “I was somewhat of a threat, I guess. So managers were using me there late in the game.”

Bochy tallied several of his 26 homers against some pretty impressive names. He hit one off Steve Carlton. He homered off Mark Davis and Willie Hernandez, a pair of Cy Young-winning relievers. He took Jim Kaat deep. John Tudor, Sid Fernandez, Bob Forsch, Terry Mulholland, Atlee Hammaker and Tom Browning were upper-tier starters and All-Stars for junctures in their careers.

None of them were the Ryan Express, though.

Bochy had caught Ryan with the Astros a few years earlier, so they knew each other well. A couple days after Bochy’s walk-off in San Diego, he was standing in the outfield as Ryan was taking a bullpen.

“I’m out there shagging and he says, `Hey Boch, I got something for you,’” Bochy said. “And he dropped down and he threw one right where my head would’ve been.”

It’s a wonder that he missed.

(Hat tip to Dan Brown for noting the 30-year anniversary and suggesting this line of inquiry with the skipper.)

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Fraternizing between opposing players is more frequent than it used to be. But it’s not often that you see a pitcher in one uniform hugging a position player in another uniform.

Dee Gordon and Chris Heston shared an embrade on the field prior to Tuesday’s game. And then they got tangled up again in the third inning Wednesday, when Gordon took a 4-iron swing and picked Heston’s curveball out of the dirt for an RBI triple.

Heston and Gordon were teammates for a year at Seminole College near Orlando. They were best friends then. Aside from an intrasquad scrimmage or two, they had never opposed each other before Wednesday.

“We always said how special it’d be to face each other in the big leagues,” Heston said.

Oddly enough, Gordon nearly became the first batter Heston faced when he made his major league debut on September 13 last season. Gordon flied out against Erik Cordier to end the eighth inning. Heston took the mound in the ninth while mopping up a 17-0 loss to the Dodgers.

Now Gordon is leading the NL All-Star voting, he’s vying for the batting title with a .350 average and the Giants have to be happy that he’s no longer playing for their chief division rival.

“It was special to face a good friend,” Heston said. “We were close. We hung out with each other as much as anybody. He’s good people. It’s good to see he’s doing so well.”

Except for Wednesday night, maybe.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Heston said. “I thought it was a real good pitch. He just got the barrel to it. That’s his game. He’ll hit the ball and run. He’s hitting .350 for a reason.”

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The Giants reportedly have emerged as the favorites to sign Lucius Fox, an 18-year-old shortstop who went to high school in Florida but has established residency in the Bahamas, making him an international free agent. Thursday kicks off the international signing period. Hey, I’m not far from the Bahamas. Say the word, honchos, and I’ll get on a Gulfstream and scout this kid out.

Seriously, though, Fox is considered one of the top athletes in this class and has advanced contact skills. The Giants haven’t had much to show for their splashier spending in this area in recent years, with Angel Villalona and Rafael Rodriguez both massive busts and Gustavo Cabrera nearly severing his arm in a household accident. You could say they’re due.

Refresh the Twitter feed and blog in the morning for lineups and the latest on Buster Posey.

While checking to see who was catching for Double-A Richmond, in case the Giants needed to get someone to Miami in a hurry for Thursday’s game, I noticed that former top prospect Kyle Crick was making his first relief appearance of the season.

He pitched two-thirds of an inning. He walked three.

Andrew Baggarly

Andrew Baggarly has documented the most eventful era in San Francisco Giants baseball history, having covered the team since 2004 for th​ree major media outlets including the San Jose Mercury News and the Oakland Tribune​. This is his 20th season as a baseball writer.
​Baggarly is the author of the bestselling book, A Band of Misfits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants, and the newly published Giant Splash: Bondsian Blasts, World Series Parades and Other Thrilling Moments By the Bay. Baggarly’s other notable life accomplishments include running as the Bratwurst in the Milwaukee Sausage Race and becoming a three-time Jeopardy! champion.

Someone was saying on the last thread that Warriors overpaid. This speaks to that.

According to one source, Green wanted at least a four-year deal all along. The Warriors stalled on giving him upwards of $80 million. Their initial offer was five for $70 million, then $75 million. Once Green didn’t accept, talks were off and he was forced to go prove his market value.

But then the Cavaliers signed Tristan Thompson — who plays the same position — to a five-year, $80 million contact. And Green’s market value was all but set. He’s worth more than Thompson and he proved it during the NBA Finals.

They are 2 different type of players, Thompson is an Old school Power Forward, better Rebounder , better low post player, Green is a stretch 4, and undersized, he got killed guarding big guys like Gasol, Randolph, Mosgov, but guards smaller forwards and guards great, but shoots low % 3’s to be a great stretch 4 .

Bochy had a 9 year career in MLB, but never had more than 167 ABs in a season. The big man did, however, have some power. In ’85 and ’86, he hit 14 HRs in just 239 ABs. It would be interesting to hear him talk candidly about whether he thinks he should’ve received an opportunity to be the everyday catcher somewhere. Managing, however, has worked out pretty well for him.

Kerr has repeatedly called Green the heartbeat of the Warriors. They wanted him back without hesitation and he got market rate.

Green’s impact goes well beyond stats, though, with his tenacity,
intensity and hustle all key elements of his game. He’s a bit of a
do-it-all utility power forward who can play multiple positions, shoot
the 3 effectively and defend all over the floor. Green was the anchor of
the league’s best defense, with an impressive individual defensive
rating of 96.0.

Zach Lowe, or somebody else at Grantland, had an interesting comment about Green. A big part of what makes him so valuable is his ability to guard many different types of players. Given this fact, Green’s value might be significantly diminished if he were to lose a step and become less effective against smaller, quicker players. Lowe speculated that Green’s body type might make him more susceptible to slowing down than other players. Let’s hope that Green stays hungry despite the money, and doesn’t take a Sandoval-esque approach to the next phase of his career.

I think the G’s are going to have to accelerate Strickland’s development by putting him in more high stress situations. It’s pretty obvious that three of the Core Four have just lost it. Might as well get Strickland used to more stress in the middle of the season than being forced to make that discovery in late August when the main guys are burnt out.

Interesting points, O. Green is a “wide body” for a guy on a team that plays with frantic pace at both ends. Relative to the end of the 2013-2014 playoffs, the Dubs overachieved this year. Can they keep it up? They can if that second unit continues outsized performance so that the main guys can average low 30s minutes.

Marlins are not a cakewalk. They have underachieved all year but these games are anything but easy and certainly not doormat status. Those games rarely exist in baseball. There are a few teams every year that are a wreck. Don’t mistake the Marlins for one of those teams. Talented lineup even w/o Stanton. You can’t make mistakes to these guys. A lot of speed and talent all over the diamond.

We should have won yesterday’s game but I consider these games anything but easy. Have to execute very well if we want to beat this team.

PJ only considers numbers…he isn’t keen on understanding the dynamics of team chemistry, or how players fit into expanded roles to make the system work better. The fact about Green is that is one of those prototypical “beyond the numbers” athletes. Those types are often in the middle of debates like this.

What I know, as a lifelong Warriors fan, is that Green makes the team WAY better when he is on the floor. Whether it is the screens that he sets for Steph and Klay that open those shooters more than others would because of Greens great driving ability, or his drawing a big out from under with his 3’s (regardless of PJ’s % stats..the defense respects him), or his battling under the boards to create team rebounds….all those things matter. It’s a bit like the baseball player than hits behind the runner consistently…his batting average suffers, fans post stats, and teammates and managers love the guy.

Green is not a prototypical 4. Since the Warriors don’t subscribe to the normal tags for positions, it works for them…it doesn’t for those looking for comfort in numbers.

I don’t understand the baseball farm system. In basketball there were many succesful players that jumped directly from high-school to the NBA startiing five. Why not in MLB? Is the baseball learning curve so much more difficult?

It almost never happens in MLB, and I think the answer about the learning curve is “yes.” A couple of the Cubans, like Cespedes and Abreu, went right into MLB, but they were mid-20s. Fox turns 18 today.

I have no idea who he is, but here’s information from MLB Trade Rumors:

“In Sanchez’s free scouting report, he notes that Fox is considered by
some to be a five-tool player and the best athlete in the class. A
switch-hitter, Fox has a line-drive stroke and has a knack for putting
the ball in play, per Sanchez. Badler notes in his own scouting report
(subscription required and highly recommended) that some scouts feel
he’ll move to center field. He adds that Fox has little power, but calls
him a plus-plus runner with a chance to hit at the top of a big league
lineup. McDaniel feels that second base is a possibility as well, but
says he should start his career at shortstop and has a real chance to be
a regular contributor at any of the three up-the-middle position.”http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/07/giants-the-new-favorites-to-sign-bahamian-shortstop-lucius-fox.html

Yes. The skills required to play baseball at the highest level are much more refined. There’s nothing in sports more difficult than hitting a baseball, and pitching requires nuance as well. Has there even been a teenager in the Big Leagues since Alex Rodriguez?

MLB is played nearly every day. Holes in one’s abilities will be evidenced much more easily than in something that’s done once a week. So, one reason for the differences one sees with MLBaseball is the need to see the “holes” in a young player’s abilities before he’s given certain opportunities. The other is that it’s a pretty sophisticated game of personal skills (mental and physical) and that takes awhile.

Looking a little deeper in Casilla’s peripherals. Hitters have hit .316 with 2 HR off his sinker this season, compared to .186 and no home runs last season. His groundball rate with his sinker is a career low — 51% vs 66.1% last season and 58% for his career. Average velocity on his sinker is also a career low — 92.9 mph vs 94.1 mph last season and 93.5 mph for his career. Average velocity on his sinker over his last 7 outings is 92.1 mph. During the same period last season it was 94.6 mph.

Casilla has had a much higher strikeout rate this season because he’s using his curveball more — 22.4% — and hitters have chased his slider a lot more.

I was looking at Harper’s minor league numbers prior to being called up, and they were fairly mediocre. I vaguely remember this being discussed at the time. He seemed to be rushed to the majors, with less than 60 games in AA and AAA combined. But he was good and consistent from start.

On the pitching side, he’s gotten fewer groundballs since he started using his cutter less and his four-seamer more — 40.6% this season vs 45.6% for his career — but he appears to be gotting more strikeouts as a result — 25.5% this season vs 23.3% for his career. His walk rate has also been a career low this season — 4.6% vs 5.8% for his career.

Specifically, his groundball rate against righties has gone down as a result of using the cutter less — 40.2% this season vs 46.2% for his career. This appears to have also resulted in more home runs being given up to righties.

But I assume it’s best for his arm long-term to use his cutter less often.

Does Sabean live out his suitcase now? I was wondering what his travel schedule is like. He’s got a lot young kids at home, so I’d think he’d find a balance between work and family now that he’s in the later stages of his career.